


Wherever You Will Go

by AlanaWritesTM



Category: Love Simon (2018), Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - Becky Albertalli
Genre: Abby and Leah are the Cutest, Bram is a beautiful singer, Everybody can fight me on that, F/F, Gay, Ice Cream, Kinda? slow? Burn?, M/M, Pining, Simon is too, Singing, Talent Show AU, Talent Shows
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-04-13 21:26:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14121168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlanaWritesTM/pseuds/AlanaWritesTM
Summary: Simon: Hey Bram, it’s Simon. This might be a long shot, but I think we should do a duet. I don’t know, maybe you could come over to my place sometime to practice, but I think our voices would work well together. What do you think of that?I smile, and reply to his PM:Bram: Sure, when? Soccer is off on Wednesdays, so maybe tomorrow?Simon: Yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow!Bram: You too :)AKA the Talent Show AU that nobody asked for and everybody needed.





	1. Leah's "Amazing" Idea

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first AO3 fic, so I hope you enjoy it. This is to expand my writing and improve it, so any constructive criticism would be appreciated! Enjoy!

“Hey, have you all heard about the talent show? Everybody on Creeksecrets has been talking about it, mostly who they think should try out to win, or who will flop on stage.” Leah has been reading Creeksecrets for months.

“Yeah, I read that whole thread last night but totally I think Simon should try out” Abby chimes in.

“No, I probably shouldn’t. Everybody knows how amazing Abby was in Oliver, while I didn’t even have lines. Abby would be the true star of the show” Simon picks up his bagel and points at Abby with it.

“Yeah, but despite having no speaking lines you had a whole solo song! You were probably the best singer in the show.”

“Are you saying I am not a good actor?”

“No, I’m saying you were the strongest singer in the whole show an-”

“Actually, I was thinking of trying out…” The words come out of my mouth before I even know what I am about to say. 

“Yes, because everybody knows how entertaining it is to watch somebody solve 5 trigonometric equations in 3 minutes.?” What Garrett doesn’t realize, and probably never will, is that despite being my closest friend on the soccer team, I do have a life off the field that isn’t studying for the next Accelerated Calculus test.

“I do sing actually. And pretty well, Garrett. I take lessons and perform out of school.”

“And you never told us!” Nick appears surprised, “Sing a few bars! Whichever song you please.”

“I uh-” I don’t really want to sing right now, it’s quite intimidating since I usually only sing in front of the vocal coach and people who I don’t know, “How about later I’ll message you a video of the song I worked on yesterday. Write down your numbers on this post-it” I take out a post-it and a pen for them to pass around.

“Since when did you have time to sing anyway” Garrett knows I’m on the field or studying 24/7 because when I am at vocal lessons I usually say I’m studying since most guys don’t even think about singing.

“Since about two years ago.”

“So you are the one who I can always hear singing Seasons of Love in the showers,” Nick says sarcastically. That happened twice, and I could have sworn I was alone. I'm surprised that somebody actually heard me.

“At least it sounded better than your rendition of Fergalicious.” I tease

“Hey, let’s not jump on Bram for singing in the shower. Studies show it helps you memorize things quicker than if you haven’t. No wonder why he remembers everything!” Simon jokes. I smile, he’s always been quite witty ever since I met him when I first moved here. We never really talked much, I mostly stayed with Nick and Garrett. Abby started talking to me a bit when Nick was dating her but then broke up with him to pine over Leah. They’re still on good terms though.

“Says the one who can recite all of Elliot Smith’s album XO word for word.” Leah knows more about Simon than the rest of us combined.

“Listen that album is a masterpiece of the human race and anybody who has ever heard it or listened to it has heard god himself sing.” 

The bell rings, so we all say goodbye and part our ways. Mine happens to be to AP US History. I pass the sign-up sheet for the talent show, and sign-ups end in three weeks, so I have time to decide.

 

My leg cannot seem to stop shaking and I have no idea why. I can just search up the powerpoint for the lecture on Google Classroom tonight, so there isn’t much need to pay attention, but what happened at lunch is making me more nervous than it should. What if they don’t like my singing? What if all those lessons never made me good enough to stack up against all the other people in the school, my voice cracks or my instrumental track shuts down? I haven’t even decided on a song to do yet, nevermind how to muster up the confidence to enter. 

 

“Greenfeld!” I hear my teacher say. He seems agitated as if he had been saying my name for awhile.

“Yes, sir.”

“You have been staring at that lovely wall for ten minutes. Pay attention to my presentation.”

“I apologize.” I start to scribble down some notes about migration in North America in the 1800’s. I have no reason to space out like this all the time. Only two more classes to go...

 

The 3:00 bell finally rings, and I sprint to my car as fast as possible to drive home. When I arrive home, I find the video, pause for about 3 minutes, then enter their numbers to send it. I hope they still want to hear it.


	2. The Waiting Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Simon surprisingly has already signed them up, and Bram must work on a project with Abby, and so they bond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Another chapter already? I usually don't update this quickly but I had nothing to do all day so here it is... for future reference, I usually update this every week, usually on a weekend but occasionally a weekday. As the story ramps up I usually will write more but with-hold for that weekly release. Enjoy!

[To: Abby, Garrett, Leah, Nick, Simon]

 

Bram: Hey. You all asked for a video of me singing, so here's one from my last rehearsal, “Santa Fe.” I hope you like it. {1 Video Attachment}

Abby: Oh my gosh! That’s amazing!

Garrett named the group “Bram is secretly Hannah Montana”

Garrett: You get the best of both worlds

Simon: Better than I could’ve done it!

 

I was so nervous to send it. But they’re all being so nice about it and I’m m e l t i n g because I hadn’t thought they’d even respond. But then I receive a PM:

 

Simon: Hey Bram, it’s Simon. This might be a long shot, but I think we should do a duet. I don’t know, maybe you could come over to my place sometime to practice, but I think our voices would work well together. What do you think of that?

 

I smile, and reply to his PM:

 

Bram: Sure, when? Soccer is off on Wednesdays, so maybe tomorrow?

Simon: Play is always off on Wednesdays, I guess our school likes to make most long-term clubs off Wednesday. So yeah. I’ll drive you home with me, Leah and Nick usually come too.

Simon: Is that good? If not it’s alright.

Bram: I’d gladly come over. Are your parents okay with it? Mine is at as long as I’m home by curfew

Simon: Yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow!

Bram: You too :)

 

I close the messaging app. It’s the first time in awhile anybody besides Garrett invited me over. I’m all giddy inside waiting for tomorrow to come. Maybe this might be the beginning of a new friendship outside of soccer. I go online to do that powerpoint from History, and I immediately notice it isn’t there. I refresh again. Nothing. But third time must be a charm, right? I guess it is since it finally loads. I spend until 12:00 AM just to finish my notes. It’s worth it when I don’t have to copy somebody else’s, who are never comprehensive nor concise.

 

The next day arrives, and I wake up to a few messages in the group chat:

 

Nick: I am genuinely surprised, why don’t you sing more often.

Abby: He obviously didn’t want to overshadow the best AKA me

Simon: Yeah okay you can think that all you want

Abby: But you know it’s true

Simon: Hey, at least my partner in the show was non-existent while yours was fucking Martin

Abby: I never chose him though. Remember how clingy he was to me?

Nick: Until I set him straight

Abby: By setting me bisexual

Leah: Oh stop it, babe

Nick: To be fair I walked into that

  


Leah and Abby were the type of couple I always envied. They would always sit next to each other at the lunch table, give each other food, make jokes and hold hands constantly. I want that type of confidence someday.

I decided to jog to school, as I usually do to get my Wednesday workout and go to my locker when I hear the bell for the first-period ring. I grab my books and go to first period, where Nick already sits in his place for the lab, “Did you see that move Ronaldo did last night? It was sick!”

“Yeah, he just cut right through that left fielder like nobody’s business and bam! A goal!”

“Sergio Ramos though… His ankle was like SNAP. You could watch his pain.”

“Okay so for this, will you put Ga into the beaker?”

“Which is that” Nick reaches for the totally wrong chemical.

“No I mean the Gallium. Then, put in the Yttrium, which is labeled Y.”

“Okay, what is that supposed to do?”

“I’m not sure. I guess they just make a reddish-silver color?”

“Fine, I’ll write that down on the sheet.”

I’m the brains of this lab. If it weren’t for me, I think Nick would be failing Biology harder than I fail the push-up test in PE.

“Why do we even have to do this? The periodic table won’t matter when I’m the next Ronaldo!” Nick nudges me, “Am I right”

“Yeah, right until you fracture your ankle and can never play again before getting to that level of mastery.”

“Yeah, as if.”

 

At that moment the bell rings, and I continue on to my next class

 

They all get more and more monotonous until lunch, a break in my whole “Write notes, tap the pencil, give a new name to every item, and listen to the teacher” cycle of every class. Until Lunch.

 

“Abby, will you give me some fries?” Leah smiles towards Abby.

“Here” She passes them to Leah

“So Bram and I are entering the talent show together in the duet category…” Simon says.

“We are?!” I am quite surprised by this news.

“I signed us up- I really think we’d be an amazing pair for the talent show. A power duo."

“I’m so proud of you guys!” Nick reaches to high-five Simon with one hand and me with the other, “ I think you could be the stars of the night!”

“I hope so,” I’m apprehensive about the whole thing, I have never actually performed in front of my peers. And the one time I did, it was back in 4th grade and ended in the stage being too slippery and I tripped halfway through my dance routine.

“Come on Bram, you’ve gotta be more confident than that!” Garrett laughs and steals a piece of my salad.

“Not particularly. I’m a pretty nervous person I guess.” I sheepishly smile.

Garrett leans over and whispers, “Got the notes for Spanish? I’ll need to copy them during study hall. I’ll bring them to you right after History.”

“Fine,” I dig out my binder for Spanish, “Take whatever you need. Just remember you will totally fail this as hard as you did for _Los Deportes._

“As if.” Garrett hits me lightly with the binder and slips it in his bag, and then the bell rings.

“Good Morning. The rest of this week, you will be doing a project. Choose a partner and get going. The rest of your instructions are posted on Google Classroom.”

I see Abby get up and start walking towards me. I never even noticed that she was in this class.

“Would you like to be partners?” Abby is holding a Chromebook and the wireless mouse that comes with it, “I was thinking we should do the importance of foreign trade in America from 1800-1848.”

“That would be great, let’s get started.”

I take out my notes from that unit, and she takes her notes out and starts typing. She’s a quick typist, which I had not expected, “How do you type so fast?”

“In D.C. we all had Chromebooks for every class. Our school had been paperless since 9th grade.”

“Really? That’s awesome! I hate how this school forces us to reuse the test booklets and all their Chromebooks are kinda gross to use.” I pass her another sheet to type since she had already finished both sides.

“Everybody had their own personal one, it was amazing. Georgia has better weather at least, and people it seems.”

“Yeah, it seems like everybody was so welcoming when I moved here for 9th. I’m originally from New York, and the south had a bad name, but now I really like it here I guess. Maybe we’re just lucky to have landed in a school as nice as this one.”

“Tomorrow, you can work on the Chromebook while I research, so opposite of today. You’re a really good partner at least. One more class to get out of this hell hole!”

The bell rings and I finish all my homework in Study Hall, which rotates with Gym. I cannot wait for the final bell to ring, signaling the end of Period 9.

And then it finally does.


	3. Oreos and Ice Cream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bram goes to the first rehearsal at Simons house, Susans a good mom. They eat empanadas and ice cream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long update wait! I will be more active once I'm less busy and get more time to write.

I walk to my locker to grab my books, and then I turn and Nick punches my shoulder, “Come on with us, we always get Starbucks before going home!” And Nick walks with me over to Simons locker, where Leah is at already. 

“Hey, Bram! You ready?” Simon tosses me a 2 pack of Oreos. My favorite. He starts to unwrap his own pack, and we both eat them. How'd he know? 

We walk to the car, and Leah calls shotgun, so Nick and I are stuck in the back. I decide to sit directly behind Simon, and Nick sits behind Leah. 

“Do you ever have the sudden urge to put your hand out the window and high five a jogger? Like anybody?” Leah says out of the blue. 

“I mean I had a dream about being a jogger who was high fived, but never the other way” 

“You've been talking about all those dreams for a while, Nick!”

“I'm going to try to high five the next person who jogs past” Leah rolls down her window

“You're insane,” Nick notices a classmate walking down the street. I recognize him from an elective in 9th grade, “your hand will get chopped off.”

“Hey!” Leah calls out the window and Simon slows down. She then reaches out and high fives the dude, and as we pass I watch him laugh. It's gratifying to see other people's joy. 

Simon finally pulls up and orders drinks for everybody else then turns to me, “What do you want to drink?” 

I haven't been to Starbucks in a while. I don't usually order anything other than a cake pop, “Whatever you ordered Si. Your judgment is better than mine”

He orders the three drinks and drops everybody else home. 

Now, it is just us two.

“Shall we go inside?” I say as we pull up.

“Yeah, I'll grab our backpacks from the trunk. My parents are very nice, we'll go upstairs then they'll serve us a bite a bit later.” Simon opens the trunk and carries our bags inside, as I follow with the keys to lock the car and open the door.

“Good afternoon! You must be Bram, I'm glad to meet you. I'm Susan, Simons mom. If you need anything I'll be downstairs cooking empanadas.”

“Nice to meet you!” I yell to Susan as Simon flags for me to run up the stairs. 

He leads me into his room, “So this is where I spend at least 20 hours every week.”

“It's really cool, I love the chalkboard around the bed nook.” He has a really nicely decorated room, with family photos on a tack board, a desk and a little book for his full-size bed.

“I think we should warm up, then figure out when we can rehearse. I'd like to grab those empanadas too and then maybe walk to the ice cream shop?” Simon takes out a sheet with 5 scales. They're all around my range, besides the last one which goes slightly too high. 

We do the scales and then he high fives me, “Step one was a success, now step two… When will our schedules not be packed to the gill?”

“Soccer ends at 5 every day, the same time as play, so maybe from 5:30-6:30 every day in the park? Or here?” Simon takes his phone out, “That works for me. How about a long Wednesday rehearsal from 3:30 to 6:00 every week like we are doing now?”

“Okay sure, that's good. Shall we go get those delicious empanadas?”

“I love mom's empanadas! Let's go”

We run downstairs and into the kitchen, where there are two plates sat out for me and Simon sit down and eat.

“Enjoying them?” Simon smiles. He has a stunning smile, I'm surprised I haven't noticed this before. 

“Yeah. I enjoy your house and I hope to be back soon!” we're about to finish the foods. I put our dishes in the sink and we head outside.

“So, Simon, how's play been?” I turn to him, but he's already looking at me.

“Good, I love blending into the background for most of the show. I'm not a very in your face kind of person, ya know?” When I hear that, I get lost in my thoughts for a split second but I rebound quite quickly.

“Me too, I'm more of a person who wants to be in the background but occasionally wants to be front and center.”

“Background lurkers are good. Not self-indulgent or deprecating.” 

“I love being a background lurker and being friends with background lurkers. Popularity is overrated anyway.” I wait for Simon to show me where to turn. 

“I agree,” he turns the corner, “ you're really cool to hang out with by the way” He does that smile thing again. It's cu- cool to look at.

“You too” I smile back, just as we reach the ice cream place, “What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?”

“I love cookies n cream. It’s a gift from God.”

“It is, I usually get that topped with hot fudge. A true masterpiece.” I reach into my pocket for money to pay for the ice creams.

“May I have two cookies n cream in waffle cones? One topped with hot fudge too.”

“Here,” I hand Simon the money, “Is this enough”

“Sure” He pays the woman at the counter and chooses a quiet booth for 2 in the corner, and sets our items down on it.

“I guess we both share a love for Oreos in ice cream” Simon grabs a 2 pack out of his bag.

“And outside of it too I suppose,” I take the oreo and keep it until the ice cream arrives, so I can put it in with the ice cream.

“Here’s your sundaes!” I stick the oreo in mine and start to eat it.

“Creative, I should’ve thought of that!” Simon sloppily eats his ice cream, it’s adorable.

“You’ve got ice cream on your nose,” I laugh and hand him a napkin

“I’d just wanted to enjoy my ice cream!” Simon joins with me, laughing at himself, “You do too if you didn’t notice.” I reach to wipe it, but I’m laughing so hard my hand misses the dispenser several times.

After a few more jokes, it’s time to go. I leave the room glowing inside like I never have before.

o. I leave the room glowing inside like I never have before.


	4. Two Marvelous Adventures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I used to come here and sing with them." :)

I lay awake, staring at my wall, wondering what to do. Why is it like this? Did today actually happen or was it all just a feverish dream? These thoughts swirl my head for hours. Simon, why must I be like this?

Am I?

Bram Greenfeld, star soccer goalie with a 3.75 GPA?

Would it be better to store what I feel in a box in the back of my mind, never to be seen or heard of again?

I say yes, it is a marvelous idea. 

And I fall asleep.

 

I’m sitting in class, tap tap tapping my pencil on the desk. It’s been a long class, but at least it will finally be lunch. The bell rings and I rush to lunch when I bump into somebody. I look up and realize it’s Simon. 

My face goes flushed, “Oh, hi, Simon. Sorry about pushing you dude.” I reach down to grab the water bottle he dropped, “At least we won’t be late because it’ll be lunch, I suppose.

“Y-yeah. Do you want to go on an adventure? I promise it’ll be fun. And if it’s not, you have every right to tell me.” He laughs and walks over to his locker as I wait. “Here, have these bad boys” He throws me a six-pack of Oreos and a water bottle filled with milk. Why had I never thought of putting milk in a cooler for Oreos and milk on the go?

“A true Jedi. Where are we going?”

“To my car. Then I’ll show you where we’ll go.” Simon spins the keys around his pointer finger.

"Well then let's go!" He grabs my wrist and runs outside, pulling me along until I start running faster than him.

He sits down in the car and then starts the engine, and then he starts to eat the Oreos and milk as we drive along. I don't know where we're going, but I hope it takes 45 minutes or less. I've never skipped class, so that would make it a first. I look out of the window, and soon we are enveloped by trees. They're all around us, and if this road hadn't been straight, I would think that he got lost and took a wrong turn. I suppose not since we finally arrive at a parking lot, which has a trail and a park, 

"Welcome to Deer Mountain. I used to hike here when I was a child. Anyway, this where I'd always eventually end up. The little fox park," Simon smiled and unlocked the doors, "I decided that I'm going to be showing you around. Are you up for it? Also, don't worry about time, that was last period since apparently a pipe burst and half the school flooded, according to Nick"

I had thought there was a bit of a smell coming from the east wing of the school, "So what happened to the kids on that side of the building?"

"They were taken to the auditorium, where the school decided instead of forcing all the kids into half the building and leaving people with schedule gaps, it's best to send everybody home. Nick said that the classroom he was in was one of the first to be evacuated." Simon unlocks the doors.

"That is wild man! So like- did the water just creep under the door slowly until somebody noticed or did it rush in all at once like BAM? Because I hadn't even seen the water, but I smelled it from a mile away."

"I'm not sure. Let's get on the trail. Considering we have all day, we're doing the whole thing. What'd you think the mini cooler was for?"

"The milk... for the cookies..." 

"Nope" He grabbed the cooler and walked around the car to let me out. Very polite of him to do that. 

He gestures to me and starts down the trail. It looks pretty windy but there are birds everywhere. A beautiful chorus of chirps surrounds us as we walk into the forest.

"This is the aisle of birds. They put a bunch of bird feeders here just so that there is a beautiful noise when you enter. I used to come here and sing with them.

"It must've sounded beautiful. You're a good singer and then combine it with the sounds of nature around you and it must've sounded like heaven"

He laughs and runs his hands through his hair, "Yeah, I guess so. It made me feel on top of the world like they were cheering for me as I sang."

"I'd be cheering too if I were there." We continue walking through this section, and eventually, we arrive at the second half, where I immediately spot a fox.

"Oh my... There's a fox! Is it going to come over here and eat us?" I point over to a fox hiding near a bush

"No, there's a glass barrier between nature and us. It's pretty unnoticeable, I accidentally ran into it once! Somebody got eaten by a bear on the trail and even since there has been a barrier between nature and the trail."

"Oh, well that's unfortunate. At least they didn't code the trail and tear it down. Then you couldn't have ever taken me" We continue walking, and I'm excited to see more. But then the trail ends at where we started: the park. 

"Well, that was quite a short trail." I'm disappointed in the length, but at least we enjoyed it. 

"Yeah, it's meant to be short. So the 7-year-olds don't get lost or get too tired while walking the trail. Did you like it?" Simon grabs my hand and leads me over to the dome on the corner of the playground. We both climb atop and sit.

"Well, that was quite the adventure. And now here we are, being the children we still are deep-down. Even though we're juniors in high school." Simon giggles at his own joke, and I join in.

"On the playground dome. I never knew why kids were scared to go on it. It's pretty fun, you get to sit on it and talk. And if you fall in you were clearly trying- It's very difficult to fall in on accident." 

"I assume you were the kid who would climb anything and never feared heights when you were younger."

"Yeah." 

"I have one more adventure before we go, Bram." Simon smirks at me.

"Hm?"

He starts to lean in, and I feel his lips on mine

 

Then, I wake up breathless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this chapter. Leave a comment on what you think will happen next below :)


	5. Smiley Faces Are Cute :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bram snaps awake, Simon messages him, and Garrett goes to Bram's advisory.

I look at the clock, and I see it is 5:35 AM. Too late to go back to sleep, but too early to start getting ready for school. So I’m stuck in my bed to think about everything again, a slave to my own mind. I’m not going to overthink it, no. I’m going to go and work on the powerpoint for History. I start to type up the presentation, and then I receive a text from Simon:

 

Simon: Hey Bram. Here’s a link to my Spotify songs. I think we should duet one of these. Listen to it in study hall and hmu. Sorry if I woke you up, I woke up a bit too early. [1 Link Attached]

Bram: It’s fine, I was already awake. I’d love to listen to them all, and I’ll get back ASAP.

Simon: Okay, have fun :)

Smiley faces are so cute. I love them. I open the playlist, but then I realize I should probably listen to it during study hall when I’ll have more time. I turn on the TV and tune to The Weather Channel. I hope for a miracle weather day off (which is rare in Georgia), just like how it was in the dream. What a treat would that be! Instead, I see that there will be thunderstorms all day. My alarm starts to ring, signaling that it is 6:07 AM. It always scares me, because it’s Garrett yelling “Bram! Wake the fuck up!” Then it fades into “WAKE ME UP INSIDE!” It’s quite startling.

I walk into school, and Garrett’s already at his locker, which is right across from mine. It’s a nice arrangement that our last names are far apart yet still across in the same hall.

He walks up to me and greets me, “Hey Bram! How’s it going?”

“Good, I went over to Simon’s house and we practiced singing a bit and then got some ice cream”

“Keeping you well fed, eh?” Garrett giggles.

“Yeah, I guess so. It was delicious though.” I feel a smile creep onto my face.

“Oh, could I only imagine! I spent most of my night figuring out essay topics.”

Just like I spent all of my night-- do you know what? Nevermind. Not that important. Since both answers would be incorrect. 

“Yeah man, I hate homework.” The bell rings, “Wanna come to my homeroom? The teacher won’t mind.” I occasionally invite Garrett to homeroom, usually to vent to him or watch funny things. But today, despite how much I want to tell him what happened and about the dreams, I can’t. I can’t ruin what he and so many others think of me and who I am.

“Sure, Bram. Why do you seem so quiet today? What happened that you’re so worried about?” Garrett and I start heading towards the class. It’s only 15 minutes long, so it’s a perfect length to have a discussion without getting bored or to get a quick homework session in.

“Oh- nothing. I’m tired, I got home late yesterday.” That’s half true. It’s not an inherent lie at least.

“Oh, cool. Fortnite mobile got released last night and everybody’s talking about it. The only thing is that it’s probably the most boring game I’ve ever played. The computer version was at least slightly interesting but mobile was complete and utter trash. It belongs in a nice little place I like the call a landfill.” Garrett pulls out his phone. I played that game once and I hated it. 

“Agreed. Kind of like this school. I mean you all are cool and all but the school itself is terrible.”

“Facts, I remember in the biology lab when a kid accidentally made a smokestack by mixing the two incorrect chemicals and the teachers thought he was vaping then got dogs… but then found out that he wasn’t vaping, but Joey was!” Garrett has a really good memory. Not for school stuff, but for general daily occurrences.

“Wait a second…” I checked my bag one more time, but I’d already noticed that there was no History binder, instead I grabbed Spanish by accident.

“What?”

“I grabbed the wrong binder. Let’s get to my locker.” I grab my bag and wait for Garrett

“Okay,” He starts to walk, “You’re usually never this forgetful. I’m usually the one who forgets half their books!”

“Well, I guess the tables have turned” I see Leah and Abby walking towards us down the hall. When they pass I wave to them and continue on my way, and eventually open my locker and open it. I swap out the two binders and notice the clock in the hallway says the period is about to end. 

“The periods about to end. I'm going to head to first period, cya!” I walk away and I take out my phone to go on Tumblr.

I turned to head to first period and bumped into Simon and Nick. Immediately I was hit with déjà vu. This had definitely happened before.

It happened before in my dream. It's like it was a gateway into the future. Maybe it is. Do I want it to be a glance into the future?

"Sorry" He giggles and continues walking. 

"It's good" I look down and wander away a bit quicker, making sure not to knock into anybody else. I can't embarrass myself anymore today since I've already that twice within the past 45 minutes. I turn on my phone to play the Spotify playlist to tune to Simon's playlist. It's a lot of unique stuff-- Elliott Smith, Lighthouse, Bright Eyes-- people I've never even heard of. Lots of remixes too. I never knew half of the singers on this playlist until today. I take out my papers to start making extra credit flashcards for Spanish when of course I can't find my flashcards as well.

I finally see the pack of flashcards at the bottom of the second compartment instead of the first, so I take them out to start writing all 124 words. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this is a short chapter! I don't currently have lots of time to write. Luckily I'll start having more once all of my sports and such die down!


	6. Garrett's Brilliant Suggestion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garrett has a plan.

Nothing I’ve heard on the playlist has been of interest to me, but at least I finished my Spanish homework. Lots of the stuff I heard one the playlist and did like were out of range or had 4+ parts, which all wouldn’t work for us to duet. I’m excited to go to soccer today, the field is my home. It’ll put my head back on straight, the way it has been up until now. I usually spend my Wednesdays on the field anyway or coaching the kids at the elementary, but that was enjoyable nonetheless. It’s like my whole life is soccer, or singing, or school. Study study study, goal goal goal, sing sing sing, sleep sleep sleep all day. It’s amazing to have a routine but it’s still great to get a break from it. 

I sit down in my chair and listen to the lecture. I’m always in my thoughts in the halls, but when I finally arrive to class I relax. Plus, Garrett and I pass notes during Mr.Walters lectures.

Garrett slides a note over to me and it reads “Are you a goofy goober?”

I write down “ROCK!” and pass it back. I have one paper of notes and one paper for passing to Garrett. It keeps the class moving. 

It's always nice to have a friend who can make classic Spongebob references during class with. Especially when the teacher doesn't really care or notice shenanigans like that. The few times Garrett had been absent from a lecture I was in, I had been bored to death since I wrote quickly but nothing to fill in the time between powerpoint slides besides the mundane tapping of my pencil. 

I'm so glad that it's Friday, maybe Garrett and I can go somewhere. Then he hands a sticky note over to me.

"Hey, would you like to come to my place tonight? I'm hoping the whole squad could come over and watch some movies. Or maybe play truth or dare. Wouldn't that be awesome?"

I scribble down my answer, "Yeah! Who would be coming? The rest of the lunch table? Whose place?" I slide it down the table and back to Garrett. I'm kind of excited, I know everybody will say yes because of Garrett's giant flat screen TV and endless pit of movies, both on Netflix and otherwise. Plus he always has the best dares to give out. And he'll even do crazy dares. Once Nick dared him to try and swallow the whole bottle of soap and he did (then IMMEDIATELY threw up afterward). It's a pretty awesome game for a bunch of teenagers with nothing else better to do. 

I hear the door open and who stands in the doorway? Simon's Ex, Emily. I never really liked her, her voice is high-pitched and singsongy, and she sounds as if she is about to burst into song at any second. She walks towards the front of the class and puts a paper on the teacher's desk. It's quite strange, but then she bounces out with her curly hair bouncing behind her and a quick little wave towards the teacher. It's enough to distract me since when I'm in my zone of writing notes and passing them during class, I'm able to tune out all other noises as if it were to be just me and the paper. She must've been pretty loud and annoying to break me out of that state. 

Garrett finally passes his note back to me. "Probably Nick, Abby, Leah, and Simon. Is that good? We'll get to watch all of the cute Abby and Leah moments while it's still the closest thing we can get to a boys night in."  I smile at that. They're the token couple of our group. One day I want to find a partner like that. One who gives me Oreos, and tells me cute jokes at night. They would cuddle me and keep me warm, while I smile with my hand in theirs. That's another dream scenario I'd love. 

I nod my head towards Garrett and the bell rings, indicating lunch is starting. I go to my locker to swap out my books then Garrett and I go towards the cafeteria. I'm hoping that the rest of the group says yes because I'd love to have a late night group hangout. Plus, we never get to be with all five of us very often out of school. Usually it's just Garrett and I, or the Leah, Simon and Nick group, but rarely do we combine. Garrett goes out of school with Nick, too, and obviously Abby and Leah, but as a large group? It's a rare occurrence that should always be celebrated. A wondrous occasion. We bring back our lunches to the table and Garrett announces the plans.

"Guys, do you want to come to my place tonight? We could watch some movies, play some games, and then sleep all day Saturday. Ask your parents and whoever will be able to come meet me at my locker at the end of the day. You guys down?"

Leah looks up from her salad, "Sure. Most likely my parents will be fine but I might have to leave a bit earlier on Saturday for my brother's fencing tournament."

Nick and Simon both nod their heads, meaning they can go. Their parents have very lax rules, and I'm allowed to go basically anywhere as long as Garrett is with me. He's like a brother.

Abby shrugs, "Maybe, I have debate club after school but then I'll drive over if you send me an address"

"Pleeeeeeeeese???" Leah smiles in Abby's direction, begging her to come.

"Oh fine. I'll still drive over an hour late due to it." Abby always caves into Leah. 

"So it's a deal y'all? Bram?"

I nod my head too, even though he already asked me earlier. The other's nodded their heads in unison.

"Tonight's going to be one hell of a night" I think to myself, and start counting down the minutes until the end of the day.


	7. The Waiting Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bram is waiting. And he finally let's his thoughts go uncensored.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait for an update! I usually only post when the chapter after a chapter is finished, and the next one is a very long which I don't even know if I've finished yet.

Classes go by slower and slower, it’s as if this day will never end. The hands of the clock go a bit too slow for my liking, but it's only because I just want to be able to go home, pack my stuff and jog over to Garrett's. I usually would enjoy English class, but not anymore. It's just one more obstacle between me and the end of the day.

I'm trying to brainstorm some ideas for my essay on how oppressed children are viewed by various adults in their lives. How would a professor view a Hispanic student opposed to a Caucasian student? How about an employer? We're supposed to find out if microaggressions like these exist among a certain group, starting with a thesis statement then testing this theory. I barely want to write the first paragraph when I could be lounging on Garrett's couch with the crew and watching a movie. Laughing at a joke. Putting my han- let's get back to the essay. Why must my mind always wander? So I start writing:

"Despite many institutions claiming to be of equal opportunity, is this really the case? Research states that even though many advances being made to improve opportunities for minorities, subconsciously many professors, employers, and even doctors may discriminate against others without even recognizing they are. This essay will explore three instances which had gone to court where this is evident, and pieces of research which prove this statement."

I have no idea as to what to write after this fragment of a paragraph. I look at the clock, and it's very close to the end of the period. Despite it being frowned upon, I put my notebook and pencils into my backpack and put the backpack half on, ready for the bell to ring.

The bell rings (at last) and I sprint out and go to phys ed. I usually don't enjoy this class whatsoever, but at least it gives me something to do. Plus, we're in the basketball unit, which I'm surprisingly very good at. I slip on my shorts and a tee and walk down to the basketball court. The teacher has just begun the roll-call even though I am pretty late to class. I'm a pretty slow changer in general, I don't particularly like the whole aspect of changing in public. It's awkward to see just limbs everywhere and hope that nobody will think you're too fat, or skinny.

Mr.White tells us to convene with our teams and go to a team you haven't already played. I'm on a team with a pretty short but quick kid named Tyler, a wrestler, a swimmer and the kid who sits around all day reading those mangas. They're not quite the power team you want to be on, all considering.

We start our first play against the hardest team in the class, they're all 6'3 douchebags whose sole purposes are to play basketball, pick up "hot" girls and go to football games. They think they're hot stuff, but they're not.

I dribble the ball and cut through two of them, who immediately charge towards me, but as they're about to take the ball out of my possession, I shoot it at the hoop. And it bounces directly out of the hoop and into their hands anyway. So much for trying to act like that epic protagonist in a movie who can just spontaneously have anything go their way. Reality isn't like that.

We play a few more rounds, where we lose all but 2 of them. I hate when I am stuck with people who I don't know and can't play the game for the live of themselves. I tell the teacher our score and head inside. It wasn't the worst class, but it certainly wasn't the best. I go into the hall to wait for the bell to ring and go on my phone. There are 7 messages in the groupchat

Abby: I'll be coming (late, probably by an hour)

Leah: Me too. Simon says yes too but Mr.Wise took his phone last period for using it in the halls to play a game. He'll get it back by the end of the day though.

Garrett: Perfecto. Why does Simon keep getting his phone taken by random teachers and hall monitors? This is the fourth time this week!

Simon: I'm always watching, Mike Wazowski.

Abby: ...

Leah: Heck

Nick: Why must you do this. Also, I'll be coming.

I respond to these, laughing about how Mr.Wise is carrying the phone and reading our messages

Bram: I'm obviously coming if anybody had a doubt about that.

Last in the day: AP Calculus. Garrett, Simon, and Nick are all in this class together. I jog there and spot Simon.

"Hey dude, just wanted to show you the hilarious message that Mr.Wise sent to the groupchat in response to Leah."

Simon laughs and so do I. It's infectious, he gets this giant smile and squints his eyes. Cutie. "Oh my god. I can't believe this dude. Of course, he'd do that. Sounds like him too. Always trying to be in with the kids and making pop culture references."

"Yeah man." I head over to my desk and put my books down. I sit two rows in front of him. I whip out two swiss rolls and start to eat them. Mrs.Wang is one of my only afternoon teachers who really doesn't care if anybody eats in class. As long as everybody is awake, participating and doing the equations on the board she is perfectly fine with it. I turn and whisper to Garrett, "So... What movie are we watching? I say we watch Happy Death Day, it's really funny to see who gets scared, can solve the crime, or isn't either of those. Really reveals a lot about a person."

"Sure, as long as I can get it on bootleg. I don't think it has been uploaded to Netflix or youtube red yet." He starts to copy down the second problem while I scroll on my phone to find the google drive link for it.

I finally find the link and forward it to him, even though it takes about half the class. At least it is in high quality, as it's a screen record and not recorded by somebody in the audience.

I finish all of the problems up on the board early and check the clock one last time.

After waiting forever it happens at last:

The bell has finally rung.


	8. An  Unforgettable Slumber Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bram packs and arrives at the party. They watch one of the 3 horror movies I know of. Yikes.

I sprint to my locker and then to my car. It's funny how just this morning I thought that I'd spend my Friday night wasting away and mindlessly playing video games and studying, but now I'll be going over to Garretts, having pizza and popcorn, and playing games with my friends. Which sounds a lot more enjoyable than my original plans. Plus the fact that we can hopefully stay up until 2. I choose a grey shirt and a pair of green plaid pants. Shall I arrive in these? I message the group chat and find out.

Bram: Hey. Is it a good idea to wear the pajamas to the house or not? I don't feel like keeping my school clothes on but if you all are then I will.

Abby: Unsure tbh. Go for it I guess

Nick: I'm down if you're down

Simon: I'm coming in PJ's. If I'm out of school I want to be comfortable

Garrett: ^

Bram: Okay thanks.

Immediately I slide on the pants and tee and then continue packing. I pack the normal stuff, a toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, shower gel, and lotion. Then I wonder what else to bring, probably a full change of clothes, two Advil, and my charger. It's courtesy to bring something to eat, so I bring crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows for smores. delicious. I sneak in a pack of Oreos just in case we're still hungry, Or if Simon wants one. 

I look around my room to see if there's anything else I need to bring. I quickly pick up a mini twister game and get on my way.

I have my sleepover bag slung over my shoulders and I start to walk down the street to Garrett's place. 

I finally arrive at his doorstep and I see Nicks car outside. He's within walking distance but he also probably didn't want to walk today. He always packs a lot of extra stuff. I walk up to the front door and ring the doorbell, but I see Garrett signal that it's already unlocked. I look around and I see Leah, Nick, and Simon had already arrived. 

"Ayeee! How's it goin'?" Nick stands up to high five me as I take the last seat.

"Good," I sling my bookbag behind my chair and sit, "What'd I arrive to" 

They all awkwardly look at each other. They don't want me to know. Simon finally speaks up, "Uh- the fact that fall has just started and I'm freezing cold already like it's winter."

"Oh my god, me too. Like in the fall all I want to do is walk around in shorts and a tee without freezing. But guess what? I CAN'T because it's SO COLD" Leah loves shorts. They're probably one of the few things that she'll wear and never complain about them being too tight or too loose. 

"Not to kill the conversation, but where the hell are your parents. Just to establish the noise levels we can have up in here." I look around, but I do not see either of his parents.

"They'll be away for the weekend. So we have the house all to ourselves! Wanna go downstairs?" Garrett smiles. We all know he has a giant flatscreen downstairs and an amazing leather couch. 

"Sure dude" Simon walks down the stairs and we all follow down. I know this house like the back of my hand, and I always take the seat in the corner. I hear the door opened alarm go off. It's Abby finally arriving. She starts down the stairs and plops on the couch right next to Leah. 

"Which movie guys? I say we should go with a horror movie?" Garrett pulls up an illegal movie site. It has any movie released from 1982 onward.

Leah turns to the rest of us, "Poltergeist. Hands down. No doubt."

"Happy Death Day. It will show who get's scared and who doesn't." Abby laughs. She's a master at horror movies and is never shook after one.

"Shut In is good I guess" Garrett suggests. Nick nods

I have no idea what to recommend. I don't watch movies a lot, I don't have a lot of free time. So I just agree with Garrett, "I loved Shut In." 

"And Simon? Any thoughts?" Garrett turns to him. He's the only one who hasn't responded or suggested anything.

"I'm easily scared..." Simon curls up a bit. He's sitting on the end of the couch next to me, then Leah on my right, then Abby, Nick, and Garrett.

"I guess Shut In it is!" Garrett pulls up the website and scrolls to find it. When he finally finds it he connected the computer to the TV, turns off the lights and sits with the rest of us.

The movie opens with a woman putting her son away to go to boarding school. As the dad is driving him there I hear a sudden bang, causing me to flinch, as well as some of the others, and the screen goes black. I assume they both died. Pretty anti-climatic. But then I see the son (I guess?) in a wheelchair being wheeled in front of a TV by the same blonde lady who sent him off. Petty bitch.

It gets farther into the movie, when Mary walks past a small door and it seems okay. She puts down the laundry but then hands pop out of the door. Two children's hands. They look like Tom's, but I'm not sure.

But the next thing that happens shocks me more than anything that happened in the whole movie.

Now, Simon has been slowly inching towards me for the whole movie. Yet now he is right up against my side, shaking. He is such a weakling when it comes to horror movies. It's cute. 

Hands come out of the closet and grab her to pull her in, and she kicks at the door.

Then I feel a hand connect to mine. I look down. It's really dark, so nobody can see us, but I realize that the hands belong to Simon.

Oh my fucking god.

Simon Spier just held my hand.


	9. Truth or Dare, Simon?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The movie finally finishes. The boys play truth or dare. Somebody knows something they shouldn't.

My mind continues racing, what does this mean?  Were my dreams a sign of something– something more? A gateway into the future? 

His hand is still in mine for the rest of the movie. It feels natural, it's a subconscious action we are both unaware of. I can't tell what this all means; I'm not even sure why I'm even returning the gesture. Simon's definitely not thinking of the hold in the way I'm thinking of it. Heck, I shouldn't be thinking of the hold like that. 

The movie finishes finally, and we separate from each other and sit up normally just before Garrett turns on the lights.

"So, how'd you enjoy the movie?" I look around. Simon still appears terrified, while Abby is asleep on Leah and Garrett nibbles on the last of the popcorn. Nick left the room I suppose, he is nowhere to be found. 

"What... The... Hell..." Simon is curled up into a ball, now leaning away from me.

"We all know you have the lowest sustainability for horror movies. This shouldn't be a surprise." Nick walks in holding a soda can and laughing. I hope he didn't see us.

"Well... Now what?" I look around. Garrett shrugs.

"I'm down for a game of truth or dare!" Leah looks around, and everybody seems to reach a consensus of playing it.

Abby gets up and points at Nick, "You first. Truth or dare?" 

Nick deliberates for a bit, "Dare. I am NOT a wimp." 

Abby thinks for a bit and then stands up, "Try to do a handstand. How long can you hold it?"

Nick stands up and prepares to go on his hands. He goes into one and surprisingly holds it for about 2 minutes. Eventually, he goes back down, "Easy."

Nick turns to me, "Bram, truth or dare?"

It's a simple choice: do something stupid or say something stupid. "Uh- dare"

"Eat 5 spoonfuls of pepper." I immediately remember how badly pepper makes me sneeze. It goes everything, and I can't stop. 

Nick walks to me holding the cup of pepper, "I thought this would be easier. You won't have the measure every time!" 

I down the whole cup in one gulp. I feel my stomach churn, and then I immediately start to sneeze. For a full minute, I am still sneezing all over the place, until I go to the bathroom and drink some water.

I walk back into the room and look around, "Well, that was probably the most embarrassing moment I've had this month."

Simon smiles, and Leah and Abby are hunched over laughing. Nick is giggling, while Garrett looks at me sideways.

"Yeah Garrett, you could totally down that. Yeah right. Garrett, truth or dare?"

Garrett smirks, "Truth." He knows how difficult that will be. I already know everything about him.

I pause and think, but I finally come up with a good truth, "Who here would you be most likely to make out with?"

Garrett bursts into laughs. Must be difficult to decide between kissing straight guys or gay/bi girls. Little does he know...

Actually, I don't even know. There's no reason for me to think he could sense it.

"Probably Leah to be honest. No offense Abby, but she'd be the only one who wouldn't be wondering why a male was kissing her.

Garrett turns to Leah, "Anyway, you know the drill. choose one."

"Obviously dare. The only thing I will ever choose"

"Do an impression of a baby being born if it could talk" 

Leah lays on the floor in a fetal position, "Ahhhhhh! Where am! BEEP BEEP B! Don't pick me up, Where are my legs???" Leah rolls out and sits back down.

Abby waits for Leah to finish getting back on the couch, "Truth. Obviously" 

Leah looks around, "Most embarrassing item in your room?"

"A stuffed animal from when I was 5. It's this purple mouse with rainbow ears. Not embarrassing though."

Abby decides to flip the order a bit, "Garrett, truth or dare."

"Dare"

"Eat this." She takes out the raw cocoa. Where she got it, I don't know. 

Garrett puts some of the powder on his hand and smiles "This will be delicious."

He is instantly proven wrong when he makes a sour face upon tasting the powder. He closes his mouth and tries to swallow it, then grabs his water bottle to get the taste out, "What the hell! I thought chocolate tasted good, why doesn't cocoa?"

Abby laughs, and Garrett looked to Leah, "Truth or dare?"

"Truth. I'm not willing to move." 

"What makes you want to scrub your eyes out?

"The fact that I have to see you every day. What an inconvenience." Leah smirks, "I'm kidding. The 'blank out for Harambe' tag was cancerous. My lord."

I decided I would like to go now, "Dare."

"I dare you to eat 3 vinegar potato chips for each question asked from now until the next game."

"You know how much I loathe eating those. You suck."

Leah snickers, how evil.

"Nick. Truth or dare? I already know you'll choose dare though."

"You know me"

"Fine. I dare you to impersonate any celebrity, and we have to guess them. You can't sing any part of a song they sing that contains the title, or name them."

Nick stands up and pretends to hold a machete. He proceeds to fight the air and eat pills. We're all extremely confused.

"You're Post Malone? Rockstar?" Abby is the only one of us who will watch music videos of songs she doesn't even like. It's strange.

"Yep. I don't even know how the fighting scene was relevant to the song, but I refuse to question it."

Simon was still waiting for his turn. He didn't even go the first time. "What about my turn? Am I just not going to go or..."

Nick laughed, "Apologies on my part, truth or dare?"

"Dare. Make it good."

Nick smirks like he knows the best dare on earth, "Kiss the person to your right."

Well fuck. He saw us. Nicholas Fernando Green, why?

He shrinks and goes pale,” Did you mean anybody to my right?”

“Nope. Directly on your right,” Did Nick actually dare that?

Simon leans in and kisses my cheek. I feel myself blushing, yet I'm so dark it is difficult to see it on my skin tone.

We're both smiling. I hope Garrett doesn't make a snide comment.

Go to hell, Nick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'll be updating every Friday or Saturday night from this point forward! The schedule was shaky this week, but it's because the chapter I wrote this week (not this one) is of very low quality because this week has been an eternal hell. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	10. Never Have I Ever Ft. Nick with Eyeliner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leah and Abby make Nick beautiful, and a classic game of Never Have I Ever is played at the sleepover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! Finals gave me so much stress, and I knew my writing would suffer if I updated during finals. Now that it's summer you'll watch as I improve (I'm going to a writing workshop for a week next week!) and maybe more updates! Stay tuned :)

So I’m sitting there, smiling like a dork, and Simon is too.

"Why," I turn to Nick and hope he doesn't reply with something snarky.

'Why not?" He laughs, "Hit me with your best dare"

"Okay. Let Leah and Abby do your makeup. And at the end, we'll take a photo. After that, let's end the game, I'm becoming exhausted."

Nick sits down on a stool in the basement. Abby grabs her makeup bag (Because her colors match Nicks skin tone better than Leah's) and lays out all of the supplies.

First, Leah puts a charcoal face mask on him. I'll admit, I tried one on last month and it felt AWFUL! Who on earth likes the feeling of thick cream being smeared all over their face? After that one time, I vowed I'd never put on another godforsaken face mask again.

We all waited a bit, as Nick looked uncomfortable as ever, Leah and Abby snickered to themselves and Garrett, Simon and I tried to contain our laughter over the situation.

Finally, to what I'd assume to be Nick's relief, Abby peeled it off of his face.

"Thank. The. Gods. I never want to experience that again."

"I call eyeliner, mascara, eyeshadow, and blush!" Abby takes out a wand of mascara and starts to work on Nick's left eye. She has always been astonishing at eye makeup techniques. Leah bends down and applies foundation to him, which Garrett turns on the Barbie Girl song. That truly made everybody laugh, even Nick, who did not appear to be very happy about having either of their hands all over his face, even though he most definitely had a crush on Abby during the previous year. I snuck over to the snack table to grab 4 Oreos to eat, but I only end up eating 3 as Simon begs me for the last one. Of course, I'd give it to him, why wouldn't I?

Nick continues to be pampered by the girls, meanwhile, Garrett laughs to himself, thinking he is oh-so-funny. The girls are too focused in on the makeup to notice that the music is still playing.

Simon gets up and turns off the music. 

"Get your hands off of it," Garrett pressed the play button again, "This is the sound of a true queen."

"My only true queen is Beyonce. No other queens allowed in this house," and instead of pausing the music again, he unplugs the speaker from the wall, "You're a thot."

"Oh I'm the thot, huh? As if. You're the thot for somehow managing to not receive a truth nor dare for the first two rounds!"

"Can we just agree you are all thotties. In the friendliest way possible, of course," I interject, "Plus, I am the supreme thot. How could you ever doubt that."

"Shut up Bram, you couldn't be a thot if you got a college degree in it!" Nick definitely has a point. I can't even take him seriously when he has lavender eyeshadow and metallic blue lipstick.

"I can't even take you seriously right now. You look like James Charles right now"

"I don't know if that counts as a compliment or as an insult." Leah picks up a brush for blush and puts it into a palette, "Smile Nick! We are nearing the final step." 

"Do I want to reach the final step. As is my masculinity has been harmed by this experience."

Simon looks down at his hands, "Yeah because your masculinity is ~so~ fragile." 

"Says the kid who didn't want to wear makeup onstage for Oliver until Abby forced him to so he wouldn't look like a ghost," Nick says sharply. 

"And..." Abby applies one last swoosh of eyeliner to his right eye, "Done! Take a photo."

I immediately take out my phone and take a photo of him on Snapchat, and caption it "snatched!"

"Cursed image. I never want to see myself in makeup ever again" Nick laughs.

"You can take it off once everybody actually goes to sleep. Which is not right now, in case you were wondering."

"So... What next?" Garrett has been quiet ever since the whole Simon vs Garrett music box situation a few minutes ago. It's probably the longest Garrett has ever been quiet this whole party.

"Never Have I Ever. Except, if you lose, you must eat one of these bad boys." Abby pulls out a bag of spicy Cheetos. 

"Oh HELL no!" Leah yells. She hates those. Actually, we all do, it's that all of us can tolerate the first 10 beside her.

"Oh hell yes," Abby pours the whole bag into a bowl she also stored in her bag.

"Who will start?" Garrett looks around.

"I will. Never have I ever rehearsed asking somebody out using a mirror."  I look around to the others, and everybody besides Simon and Abby eats one.

They share a look then Abby decides to go, "Never have I ever vaped."

Only Garrett and Nick eat one. I'm almost surprised that Leah hasn't, but at the same time why would she?

Nick starts the next one: "Never have I ever gotten kissed by a girl" Abby and Leah dive for the bowl first. 

He pauses. Garrett grabs the bowl and eats two just to rub it into my face. Of course, Simon grabs one. 

Then he looks me, "And then there was one."

"We all knew Bram was already married to the SAT study book." Garrett snickers. I'm the only ever grade 11 kiss virgin. I've never even had a girlfriend. What a flop.

"I guess I'll go again. Never have I ever not eat for over 24 hours." Leah slowly takes one, as well as Nick, Garrett, and Abby. I feel bad because now it's kind of awkward.

"Never have I ever farted in class" Everybody grabs a Cheeto besides Simon for posing the question. I wonder who on earth hasn't done that. I mean- who on earth would just not do that?

Garrett goes again. He had the best questions. "Never have I ever... had a homosexual thought."

Shit. Welp. Shit. I'll be honest on this one. I reach for the center and grab a cheeto, just after Leah and Abby (obviously) get a cheeto. When I reach into the bowl though, Simon's hand graces mine.

So I was obviously given one of my several homosexual thoughts right then and there.

This of course causes the rest of the group to turn directly towards us. 

"It's a singer thing. I'm not gay though." Simon is the first to speak up. I'm glad I didn't have to since I'm a terrible liar.

"You know, it's getting late... Let's just figure out the sleeping arrangements and get to bed.” I finally say to break the silence.

"Leah and Abby together obviously, then I'll go with Bram so that leaves..." Garrett turns to me, "Nick and Simon."

Something inside of me yearns to ask to sleep next to Simon. Yet I know I can’t. So I swallow my pride and get under the covers.


End file.
